Felipe Anderson strike earns West Ham draw after Huddersfield’s rapid start
Paul Wilson at John Smith's Stadium
Date Published Sat 10 Nov 201817.14 GMT

Goals have been scarce in West Yorkshire all season, though it was clear from the opening few minutes of this game that it was not going to be another dour stalemate. With two porous defences it was a surprise in the end that only two goals were scored, but on the basis of chances created and missedHuddersfield have to be most disappointed at failing to secure all three points.

“We played very badly in the first half,” the West Ham manager, Manuel Pellegrini, said. “We made a few changes and improved in the second, though not enough to win the match so a draw was the right result. We had to try something different, even though we ended up playing with 10 men in the last few minutes when Ryan Fredericks injured his ankle. It would have been more of a risk to continue playing in the same way.”

The Huddersfield manager, David Wagner, said it had been a frustrating afternoon for the home side, who remain in the bottom three. “We were the team that created the big opportunities, we hit the post and the bar, we had no luck. We had dangerous situations but could not get the final touch.”

Steve Mounié almost opened the scoring inside two minutes when he sent a header goalwards from an Aaron Mooy corner, Lukasz Fabianski coming to the visitors’ rescue by pushing the ball on to the bar. West Ham came storming down the field only seconds later to create an opportunity of their own, a delightful pass from Grady Diangana sending Marko Arnautovic clear, only to be foiled by Jonas Lössl leaving his line quickly to push his shot round the post.

The home side took the lead a couple of minutes after that, when Alex Pritchard became the first Huddersfield player to score a league goal on this ground this season. West Ham only had themselves to blame, Issa Diop and Declan Rice losing possession in their own half to allow Pritchard to play a one-two with Jonathan Hogg and clip a low shot beyond Fabianski from the edge of the area.

By the mid-point of the first half Huddersfield were looking good value for their lead and could consider themselves slightly unlucky not to be further ahead. Philip Billing struck a post with a cross from the left wing, then Florent Hadergjonaj put Mounié one on one with Fabianski, a less than convincing finish from the striker enabling the goalkeeper to make a save.

West Ham sent on Javier Hernández for the second half and the substitute was presented with an opening almost straight away. Unfortunately for the travelling fans in the scoreboard end he was unable to take it. Lössl dived at his feet to stop his first effort, and though that left the goal unguarded when the ball spun up into the air, Hernández’s header from the six yard line cleared the bar.

Pritchard found himself in a position to make the game safe after an hour when he just about stayed onside from Mounié’s knockdown, but he did not have as much time as he imagined and Diop got back with a covering tackle to block him in the act of shooting.

A weak finish from Mounié squandered another opportunity with only Fabianski to beat before West Ham got back on terms with just over a quarter of an hour remaining. The impressive Felipe Anderson was at the start and finish of the move, first sending Robert Snodgrass to the byline with a clever reverse pass, then entering the area to apply a decisive finish after Arnautovic, Hernández and Michail Antonio had all tried and failed to convert Snodgrass’s cross.

A Mooy clearance off his line prevented Diop snatching a winner for West Ham, though even in the closing stages there were still chances for the home side to add a second goal. Erik Durm shot just wide from the edge of the area, before providing a cross from the left in the final minute that found Laurent Depoitre in space in front of goal. The substitute failed to connect decisively enough, which is beginning to look like the story of Huddersfield’s season.